During the events of The Shattered World Crisis, Knuckles was on Shrine Isle and witnessed the devastation to the world's surface as the planet split into multiple pieces. To his further surprise, Chaos emerged from the Master Emerald and plummeted towards the surface, and Tikal then addressed him. Tasked with finding Light Gaia and helping him restore the planet, Knuckles asked Relic the Pika and her assistant Fixit to stay on Shrine Isle and watch the Master Emerald in his absence. Knuckles subsequently returned here with Light Gaia's incarnation, Chip, and conversed with Tikal regarding what to do next. However, Relic then arrived to inform him that the island had been invaded by an alien force. This threat would prove to be Eclipse the Darkling and his Dark Arms, and their presence soo